Joel Arnold

Publisher info

Joel Arnold is the author of several novels. His short stories and articles have appeared in dozens of publications, including WEIRD TALES, CHIZINE, AMERICAN ROAD MAGAZINE and Cemetery Dance's anthology SHIVERS VII. In 2010 he received both a MN Artists Initiative Grant as well as the Speculative Literature Foundation's Gulliver Travel & Research Grant.

Arnold teaches writing at student workshops throughout Minnesota and has given presentations about the Ox Cart trails of Minnesota and the Dakotas to several historical societies and other groups interested in history. He also serves as the literary director for the Savage Arts Council.

Arnold lives near the Twin Cities in Minnesota with his wife, two kids, two cats, a dog and a ball python. Plus he makes a mean coffee cake.

At least once a week, Frank Thurston Waylaid is taunted by something evil. Frozen with fear, he cannot confront that which lurks at his doorstep in the suffocating blackness of night. It is only in the safety of daylight that he ventures forth to see that which is left behind; a blackened oval of something burnt and reeking.
Smell the fear in this short tale of eldritch proportions!

Claire and her father set out from the Dakota Territory, hoping to catch up to the large caravan of Métis fur traders that left the day before. Their destination? The bustling city of St. Paul, where Papa wishes to open a photography studio. But with only Bone Bag, their one-horned ox, to pull their squeaky cart, they soon realize they may have to make their treacherous journey alone.

All three volumes of Joel Arnold's popular BEDTIME STORIES FOR THE APOCALYPSE series gathered together in ONE omnibus edition! Over thirty stories of horror and sci-fi, including bonus stories by Daniel Pyle and H.P. Lovecrabbe!
These are the kind of bedtime stories that will keep you reading far into the night!

After cyclone Nargis destroys Zeya’s home and family in Myanmar, she accepts a job offer in Kuala Lampur. She soon realizes she’s been tricked, and has instead been sold to a sex trafficking ring. Bars cover her windows and cruel guards keep watch. But when she learns of a mystical creature known as a 'toyol' she wonders if it may be her ticket out of this hell on earth. This is a short story.

You survived the first two volumes of Joel Arnold’s BEDTIME STORIES FOR THE APOCALYPSE…barely. Are you ready for volume 3?
This collection of 10 stories of horror will keep you up late at night with a light on and your teddy bear screaming for mercy.

It’s the kind of calendar you don’t see much of anymore, hanging on grimy backroom walls, a pin-up model posed over each month of the year showing a little skin.
But there was something different about this calendar. Something…frightening.
The old-timers at Morton’s Service Garage winced whenever a new page was revealed, glancing at the dates ahead with dread. What was it they saw?

In the Midwest, the saying goes, “Revenge is a hot-dish best served cold” – or something to that effect. In Joel Arnold’s new short story collection A WRINKLE IN CRIME, revenge is also served at a lakeside resort, in an outhouse, at a state fair, on a camping trip in the Gallatin Mountains, and along a snow-swept lonely highway.
10 stories of foul play, murder and revenge by Joel Arnold

Jared just wants to be a kid; play in the woods, climb trees, build forts... But there are the awful unbidden seizures that rack his body, the strangers who meet in secret with his father, the cache of firearms that fill the basement…
…and the bees.
When his house is surrounded by ATF agents, Jared doesn’t know whom to trust; his father, the ATF, or the swarms that only he can see. 7600 words.

Mr. Varney and Mr. Johnson are on vacation out west, travelling in an old school bus they’ve converted into an RV. When thirteen-year old Kelly befriends them at a campground in Gallatin Canyon, they suspect that her guardian is up to no good. Is she the unwitting victim of a kidnapping? Or is something more sinister going on?
Varney & Johnson originally appeared in the short story Leave No Wake.

Four college friends go inner-tubing down the Wakkamungus River after a forest fire has devastated the surrounding landscape. As they float through an eerie silence, they can't help but feel that there's something else out there...something watching them. They soon find themselves in a life and death struggle against something that has risen from the smoldering ashes.
*This is a short story*

12-yr old Connor and friends, Pavel and Gabe, decide to make this Halloween all about the candy. They map out the best route through town, carry large pillowcases for candy, and agree to dress simply as ghosts.
But things don’t turn out so simply. After a run-in with bullies, Connor realizes something is off about one of his friends; his costume may hide something best left unseen.
A short story

At first there was Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse – a collection of stories to keep you entertained while the world falls apart around you. Now there is More Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse – a new collection to keep you up at night as chaos engulfs the planet!
Ten brand new stories and three rarely seen reprints by Joel Arnold.
PLUS the bonus steampunk ghost story 'Rerun' by Daniel Pyle.

BRANCHES contains three short stories about family relationships by award winning author Joel Arnold; 'Korean Mother is Dying' 'A Hand to Hold' and ''Jump!' the Water Master Cried'.
While mostly known for his horror and suspense, here author Joel Arnold presents a trio of emotionally charged literary shorts that just may leave you crying, cheering, or both.

On a very hot day in a remote park, Brenda Chapman takes a jog, keeping in shape for her upcoming wedding. When she crosses paths with a knife wielding maniac, however, Brenda takes refuge in the first place she finds – the Biffy Palace, a pre-fab, sweltering, green outhouse.
Can she outwait him? Outwit him?
Join author Joel Arnold in this short story of crime, suspense, and intolerable smells.

Ever heard the legend of the Apple Tree Man? Leave him the last apple of the season or else next year's crop will go bad.
In this short story, the legend turns sinister when a group of friends get even with old man Hench. Years later, still full of regret over what transpired that night so long ago, the friendsbegin to die one by one. Coincidence? Or has the Apple Tree Man come to exact revenge?

In this award winning short story, Kelly Holmsted finds a huge Mississippi pearl. Refusing to sell it, she keeps it with her at all times until she loses it during a traumatic incident that she refuses to talk about.
Years later at a family get together, she decides to finally reveal the secret behind the loss of her pearl, as well as sole the problem of her abusive husband. But at what cost?

The calm of Arrow Point Resort is broken when stripper Gina Veale checks in and her ex-boyfriend comes looking for her. When Benny the foul-mouthed turtle boy finds her body, the two old resort owners realize the case may not be as cut and dried as it seems.
Join author Joel Arnold on a trip up north in this short story where even the prettiest of waters still have a bit of chill left in them.

Fetal Bait Apocalypse; 3 Collections contain all three of Joel Arnold's short story collections in one volume:
Bait and Other Stories
Bedtime Stories for the Apocalypse
Fetal Position and Other Stories
This one volume holds over 120,000 words of fiction that will haunt and terrify you for days on end.

You'll never look at birth quite the same after reading Joel Arnold's 'Fetal Position and Other Stories'.
With seventeen tales (and two poems) of horror, suspense, and terror, you may just want to curl up in your own fetal position, and pray the nightmares never come.

Tommy knows he’s in trouble when he goes winter camping with friend Vince Nguyen without telling his folks. But when they’re caught in a sudden blizzard, and the man they rescue from freezing to death turns out to be an escaped convict, Tommy’s troubles are only beginning. Now Tommy and Vince must not only survive the blizzard, but also find a way to keep Quinn from killing them.

Deep in the north woods, two sisters become lost; one stalked by her ex-husband, the other unable to rid herself of the leeches that appear mysteriously on her skin.
All are drawn to an old, dilapidated cabin.
Inside lives an old man with awful urges, accompanied by a Rottweiler possessed by something…unnatural.
But it’s what resides beneath the cabin that they should really be worried about.

When hired by Johnny Billings to kill off Katrina – Johnny’s grandmother – for an inheritance, first-time hit man Bruce Gavin thinks it will be easy money. What can an old lady knocking on death’s door do to stop him? But when he poses as Grandma Billings’ personal care assistant and takes her to the Minnesota State Fair, he discovers that he just may have gotten in over his head.

Welcome to the deep north woods, where you'll meet: A father whose longing for his dead son lead to disturbing consequences. A group of students tubing down a river who encounter terrifying creatures. A man seeking redemption through the skill of a tattoo artist. A Cambodian-American teen who will fit in with the locals at any cost. These, plus thirteen other stories will keep you up all night!

A man journeys with a pregnant stranger, while unseen aliens deal out punishment from above.
A priest's skin oozes a healing elixir.
A self-absorbed husband monitors the end of his existence over the internet.
A teenager digs through a deep crust of waste and bone to win his freedom.
These, plus 5 more stories from Joel Arnold, are your perfect companion as the earth falls apart around you.

What interesting dolls the undertaker's daughter has...
In this novel of horror and suspense, Andrew learns of his mother’s sadistic past through an aunt he’s only just met. When he meets Mae's strange neighbors, he quickly learns that his mother’s savage adolescence was only the seed for a series of awful events unfolding in the present. Will he be able to stop them before it's too late?

Smashwords book reviews by Joel Arnold

Today, I Told a Lie (a short story)
on Aug. 18, 2010
I really enjoyed this heartbreaking story, told from the point of view of a third-grader who prefers playing by himself. I feel the author nailed the voice of this child - very believable, and I remember having some of those feelings when I was a youngster.
Recommended!

The Butterfly
on July 08, 2011
A beautiful and poignant short story. Made me want to seek out more of Levick's work.